The Democratic administration of the city of Chicago has been hit with a fresh controversy after a Chicago Sun-Times report flagged a number of allegations against former Chicago City Hall COO Paul Goodrich.
On Wednesday, the Sun-Times followed-up on an earlier report on a probe by the City Hall’s in-house watchdog, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg. The earlier report noted a “senior mayoral aide” from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration used their city title to get their son an internship with a contractor of the City Hall. The report further alleged that the official tried to secure nearly $10 million in payments to the contractor.
In Wednesday’s report, the Chicago Sun-Times noted that the official in question is ex-City Hall COO Paul Goodrich and the firm in question is EKI-Digital: a contractor with the City of Chicago since the 2000s.
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As the Chicago City Hall COO, Paul Goodrich started in June 2021 under Mayor Lightfoot and his tenure also ended with Lightfoot’s.
What The New Report Reveals
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that EKI-Digital, the city contractor that has come under scrutiny, is run by Robert Rockwell Jr., a friend and donor to Barack Obama.
The report notes that Goodrich’s son did an internship with EKI-Digital from June 2022 to May 2023. Per the report, the inspector general has flagged concerns that Goodrich’s son received the internship due to his father’s position at City Hall.
The earlier report, first published on April 16, noted that the inspector general’s report said that the official “attempted to facilitate $9.6 million in payments to the contractor (EKI-Digital) to which the contractor was not entitled.” Notably, the inspector general’s report has not identified the officer, nor has there been any update on whether the probe will be escalated to federal authorities.
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In Wednesday’s report, the Sun-Times provided more details on the “intentional and negligent billing irregularities” regarding the $9.6 million payments to ELK-Digital. It said that they payments were in lieu of extra work that the company did beyond what its contract with the City Hall stipulated.
A spokesperson for the current Mayor Brandon Johnson confirmed to the Sun-Times that they payments happened between March and April 2023 related to work “March and April 2023 that wasn’t part of his contract with the city’s Department of Technology and Innovation.”
Ex-Mayor Lightfoot reacted to the allegations, saying: “The allegations in question must be treated with the utmost seriousness.”
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